Apparatus for electrically igniting gas-burners.



A. J. HILL & F. G. D. MANN. APPARATUS FOR ELEGTRIGALLY IGNITING GAS BURNERS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4, 1909.

v Patented Dec. 14, 1909.

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A. J. HILL & P. G. D. MANN.

APPARATUS FOR ELEGTBIGALLY IGNITING GAS BURNERS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4, 1909.

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942,901, Patented Dec. 14, 1909:

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ALFRED JOHN HILL, OF WOODFORD GREEN, AND FREDERICK CYRIL DUNCOMBE MANN, OF HAYES, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR ELECTRIGALLY IGNITING GAS-BURNERS.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALFRED JOHN HILL, of Pynes, Woodford' Green, Essex, Eng land, civil engineer, and FREDERICK CYRIL DUNooMBE MANN, of Hayes, Kent, England, engineer, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Electrically Igniting Gas-Burners, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, and for which we have applied for Letters Patent in Great Britain, No. 4,550 of 1908, filed February 28, 1908.

This invention has reference to improvements in means for electrically igniting gas burners or lamps and is more particularly intended for use in railway coaches which are fitted with inverted incandescent gas burners; the invention may, however, be ap plied to other suitable forms of gas lamps.

The invention is of that type in which the gas is ignited by means of a high-tension current aifording a spark across a spark-gap arranged in suitable proximity to the burner, the current being derived from an induction coil and source of low-tension current, as is well known. The induction coil and source of low tension current may be of any ordinary type and are preferably arranged together in a portable manner, the coil being provided with flexible high-tension leads and suitable terminal plug for connecting with a suitable terminal box carried on the end of the coach or other convenient point in the system.

According to the present invention the leads for the high-tension current are carried from the terminal boxes and are re spectively connected to insulated brackets or terminals and these brackets are provided with electrodes sheathed in insulating material and having ends carried toward and situated near the burner, so that a gap is afforded between the free ends of such electrodes. These brackets are preferably clamped in an insulated manner upon the battle plate of the lamp above the burner and may with advantage be arranged vertically. The electrodes which are secured to the lower part of such brackets are in this case horizontal or approximately so, and these electrodes are arranged convergent one to the other so that while the brackets are some little distance apart the projecting points of g the electrodes forming the spark gap ap- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 4, 1909.

Patented Dec. 14, 1909. Serial No. 470,559.

proach one another and may be curved inward actually to face one another.

The invention is hereafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which represent its application to an existing roof lamp of a railway carriage.

Figure 1 shows the lamp in part section, with the casing for the leads opened. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the lamp. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of part of the construction showing the preferred form of connection of the casing and its lead to the lamp. Fig. at is a diagram showing an end view of a railway coach fitted with this invention and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of the roof of the coach. Fig. 6 represents a suitable apparatus for furnishing the hightension current. Fig. 7 illustrates a distributer.

o pass the leads a a, which may be of naked copper wire through the body-casting b of the lamp A. in an insulated manner and secure these leads to vertical brackets c mounted on the battle plate (Z of the lamp or other suitable position by means of in sulated washers e; the wires are fastened to the top of the metal brackets c by nuts f screwed upon the threaded portion 0' or by other terminal fastenings. These metal brackets c are provided with lateral arms 9 g which may be screwed or otherwise fastened thereto. In the drawings it will be seen from Fig. 2, the arms are provided with caps or ferrules 9 having perforated lugs which may be held to the bracket 0. These arms are hollow and of insulating material and contain the electrodes or sparking points It h which may be of iron wire secured electrically to the brackets c, for example, by the same nut 7" which secures each of the hollow arms g to its bracket 0.

The hollow arms 9 containing the electrodes pass through the uptake 2' of the lamp A and extend down to the vicinity of the burner Z, being arranged preferably slightly above the latter. This burner Z may be of any ordinary construction, but on the drawings we have shown a form of burner supplied by a gas pipe 25 and intended for the inverted mantle s of the incandescent gas lamp. The gas employed may of course be coal gas, oil gas or other suitable gas or vapor, supplied under high or low pressure according to the class of lamp or burner. The hollow arms 9 are with advantage converged from the bracket ends to their free ends and the extremities of the electrodes h it may be curved to face one another, so as to afford the desired spark gap, see Fig. 1. advantage be made of copper wire and the electrodes or sparking points it h of iron or other suitable wire. The hollow arms 9 carrying the electrodes may be supported by the uptake i of the lamp A or from the refiector A, if desired.

In Fig. 3 we have shown the porcelain or china insulators p which we prefer to employ for the brackets and guides from the casing 0 for the leads a a. The insulators 7) are shown mounted on a metal support 7 riveted or otherwise secured to the plate (Z and are similar to the insulators 79 mounted in the casing. These insulators enable the whole of the leads to be of naked wire, thereby facilitating the fitting, cheapening the cost and reducing the liability to leakage of current.

It will be noticed from Fig. 1 that one of the leads a after leaving the insulators 7) passes around a. porcelain or china insulator m mounted on an arm a secured to the first bracket 0 and serving to guide the lead a to the second bracket 0.

The spark gaps for all the electrodes of the several lamps of a railway coach a are preferably arranged in series, in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 5. Thus the action of passing the high tension current through the circuit causes the spark to pass simultaneously through the gaps of all the lamps A A A of that coach.

lVhere a distributer Q: is employed, it is constructed with a number of terminals a connected one to each of the spark gaps or sets of spark gaps, means being provided whereby the electrical circuit may be closed through any terminal c at will. A suitable insulated operating handle '0 is provided for this purpose, and carries a distributer arm a) which receives the current through a brush 4). The source of high tension current is connected to the binding posts r0, leading to the brush a and to the other pole of the circuit. The distributer may be situated upon the end of the coach and serve for all the lamps in that coach or for several coaches, or otherwise as may be preferred.

A suitable form of apparatus for supplying the high tension current is shown in Fig. 6 and consists of an accumulator w and an induction coil y, contained in a suitable portable case a; the leads y conveying the high tension current may be connected to the terminals of any circuit to which the current is to be supplied, for example the binding posts a; from which the current passes to the spark gaps.

Having thus described our invention what The leads a a may with we claim as such and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. An apparatus for electrically igniting gas lamps, comprising a pair of brackets secured in an insulated manner to the battle plate of the lamp, tubular arms attached at. one end to the lower extremities of said. brackets, said arms extending at their other end to the vicinity oi the burner, electrodes within said arms connected at one end to said brackets and affording at their other ends the spark gap, and high tension leads connected respectively to the upper extremities of said brackets.

2. An apparatus for electrically igniting gas lamps comprising a pair of brackets, said brackets being arranged in a vertical position, screw threaded extremities to said brackets, insulating washers upon the upper of said extremities, said insulating washers being fitted into holes in the balile plate of the lamp, clamping nuts upon said. extremities, tubular arms attached at one end to the lower of said extremities, said arms extending at their other end to the vicinity of the burner, electrodes within said arms connected at one end to said brackets and affording at their other ends the spark gap, and high tension leads connected respectively to the upper extremities of said brackets.

3. An apparatus for electrically igniting gas lamps comprising a pair of brackets secured in an insulated manner to the batlle plate of the lamp, tubular arms attached at. one end to the lower extremities oi said brackets, said arms being of insulating material and extending convergently through the uptake of the lamp to the vicinity of the burner, electrodes within said arms connected at one end to said brackets, and atfording at their other ends the spark gap, and high tension leads connected respectively to the upper extremities of said brackets.

4t. An apparatus for electrically igniting gas lamps, comprising a pair of brackets secured in an insulating manner to the battle plate of the lamp, tubular arms attached at one end to the lower extremities of said brackets, said arms converging toward the burner, electrodes within said arms connected at one end to said brackets, and afiording at their other ends the spark gap, a pair of insulators supported upon the battle plate, a single insulator supported upon one of said brackets, and hight tension leads guided by said pair of insulators and passing to said one bracket and over single insulator to the second of said brackets respectively.

An apparatus for electrically igniting lamps comprising a pair of brackets, said brackets being arranged in a vertical position, sc-rew-tln'eaded extremities to said brackets, insulating washers upon the upper of said extremities, said insulating washers being fitted into holes in the baille plate of the lamp, clamping nuts upon the said extremities, tubular arms attached at one end to the lower extremities of said brackets, said arms converging toward the burner, electrodes within said arms connected at one end to said brackets and affording at their other ends the spark gap, a pair of insulators supported upon the baflie plate, a single insulator supported upon one of said brackets, and high tension leads guided by said pair of insulators and passing to said one bracket and over said single insulator to the second of said brackets respectively.

6. An apparatus for electrically igniting gas lamps comprising a pair of brackets secured in an insulated manner to the baffle plate of the lamp, screw threaded extremities to said brackets, tubular arms, ferrules upon said arms, perforated lugs to said ferrules, said lugs fitting upon the lower of said extremities, said arms converging toward the burner, electrodes within said arms, said electrodes passing at one end around said lower extremities and affording at their other extremities the spark gap, clamping nuts upon said lower extremities, and high tension leads connected respectively to the upper extremities of said brackets.

7. An apparatus for electrically igniting gas lamps, comprising a pair of brackets secured in an insulated manner to the balfie plate of the lamp, tubular arms attached at one end of the lower extremities of said brackets, electrodes within said arms, connected at one to said brackets and affording at their other ends the spark gap, a metal support secured to the bafiie plate, a pair of insulators upon said support, an upwardly cranked arm secured to the upper extremity of one of said brackets, a single insulator mounted upon said upwardly cranked arm, and high tension leads guided by said pair of insulators and passing to said one bracket and over said single insulator to the second of said brackets respectively.

8. An apparatus for electrically igniting gas lamps, comprising a pair of brackets, said brackets being arranged in a vertical po sition, screw-threaded extremities to said brackets, insulating washers upon the upper of said extremities, said insulating washers being fitted into holes in the baffle plate of the lamp, clamping nuts upon said extremities, tubular arms, said arms being of insulating material and extending convergently through the uptake of the lamp to the vicinity of the burner, electrodes within said arms connected at one end to said brackets and affording at their other end the spark gap, a pair of insulators supported upon the baffle plate, a single insulator supported upon one of said brackets, and high tension leads guided by said pair of insulators and passing to said one bracket and over said single insulator to the second of said brackets respectively.

9. An apparatus for electrically igniting gas lamps comprising a pair of brackets secured in an insulated manner to the baffle plate of the lamp, tubular arms of insulating material attached at one end to the lower extremities of said brackets, said arms extending convergently through the uptake of the lamp to the vicinity of the burner, electrodes of iron wire within said arms connected at one end to said brackets and affol-ding at their other ends the spark gap, a metal support secured to the baffle plate, a pair of earthenware insulators upon said support, an upwardly cranked arm secured to the upper extremity of one of said brackets, a single earthenware insulator mounted upon said upwardly cranked arm, and high tension leads of naked copper guided by said pair of insulators and passing to said one bracket and over said single insulator to the second of said brackets respectively.

10. An apparatus for electrically igniting gas lamps, comprising a pair of brackets, said brackets being arranged in a vertical position, screw-threaded extremities to said brackets, insulating washers upon the upper of said extremities, said insulating washers being fitted into holes in the baffie plate of the lamp, clamping nuts upon said extrc1ni ties, tubular arms of insulating material, ferrules upon said arms, perforated lugs to said ferrules, said lugs fitting upon the lower extremities of said brackets, said arms extending convergently through the uptake of the lamp to the vicinity of the burner, electrodes of iron wire within said arms passing at one end around the lower extremities of said brackets and affording at their other ends the spark gap, a metal support of U shape, said support secured at its center to the baffle plate, a pair of earthenware insulators mounted upon the extremities of said support, an upwardly cranked arm secured to the upper extremity of one of said brackets, a single earthenware insulator mounted upon said upwardly cranked arm, and high tension leads of naked copper wire guided by said pair of insulators and passing to said one bracket and over said single insulator to the second of said brackets respectively.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED JOHN HILL. FREDERICK CYRIL DUNCOMBE MANN.

lVitnesses SIDNEY COOKERILL, H. D. JAMESON. 

